Roof support for floating roofs



March 22, 1949. F, 1 GOLDSBY ErAL 2,464,803

ROOF SUPPORT..I FOR FLOATING ROOFS Filed Oct. 29, 1945 2 Sheets-Shes?, 1

March 22, 1949 F. L. GoLDsBY ETAL ROOF SUPPORT FOR FLOATING ROOFS 2 Sheets-Shea?I 2 Filed Oct. 29, 1945 MMM fewer@ Waff; 60

Patented Mar. 22, 1949 :ROQF' SUPPORT FOR FLOATING ROOFS Fred L.y Goldsby and Frederick-D. Moyer, Chicago, Ill., assignors to Chicago Bridge &..IronCom Dany ApplicatoniOctober 29, 1945, Serial No. 625,398

(Cl. 22,0-.2G)

3.Claims. 1

.This invention relates toga vfloating roof tank, and.particularly,toaroof support-for such a tank `whereby therroofgmay be supported above the .bottom of Athe .tank at the.` lowest position of the roof. I

Theoating roofs ofoatingroof tanks rise an .fajllfasathe:quantitybf liquid within the tank is varied `Itihas beengfound advisable to provide l`s.upportiI- ugf.mear-1sso' that the .bottom of the roof f,will.-rest.somefdistancefabove'the bottom of the ltankrwhengthe tank is.v substantially empty. The support.is,particularlyfadvisable when an inter- 1:l`:a,.l=drain.is,usedvfor thevoating roof to drain oi .accumulatedwater-or thev like fromthe top of the roof. The supports serve toprotect the internal .,drainrline when the roofsis inits lowest position. Thesefidrain linesfareusually made of pipe with `rotatable connections or of, exible hose. The in- Lternaldra-ins; are .connected to a sump on top of :the roof and passdown through the contents of tpthefiankl to .theoutside shell of the tank. The drain must be long enough to extend between :thesefpoints whenthe roof lis in its highest position. As thezroof falls :to: itslowest position the .draina-Wi-ll'rest onthe^bottom yof the tank in coiled .orlfoldedsposition Il Itis necessary that the roof .support does l,not interferewiththe movement of thedrainwas .thefroofzrisesgand falls.

".Werhave invented.:a'^support fora floating roof tank: that willsupportithe roof in level position ionthenxhottomzoffthe'tank.zandthat will not in- :terere with'ztheimovement of the drain. This `Supportcompriseszat leastzthree vertical pipe-like members extending through the roofua substantial distance I above :.an'd'below the roof. The members:areisubstantiallyy equally spaced around the circumference of a circle whose center is substantially at the centerof the roof. Each of the .ippeelike members is braced against lateral and longitudinal movement lby bracing extending from the bottom portion of the member to the bottom surface ofthe roof. It is Vpreferred that there be also yprovided a foundation structure under vreachpipe-flil member upon which the bottom end ofthe -member will rest when the roof is in fits lowest ,-position. Each l foundation structure ,comprises rigid plates supported above the botitom ofv-thetank and substantially parallel thereto. tTheseplates are preferably on a level with each other so that the roof will be supported in horizontal position.

The invention will be described as related to the embodiment shown in the accompanying drawings. Of the drawings Fig. 1 is a plan view -of a'oating roof tank embodying the invention;

rsubdivided into sections. the surface of the roof, Awhich will usuallybeffat .I0 and has an outlet end i6.

Fig. .2 is :a vertical section taken .i substantially1 throughvthe centerofthe tank; Fig. 3-is 1rantenlargedl elevation of yone ofthe supports for .the floating roof; Fig-lis a horizontal sectiontaken along line 4 4 ,of Fig. 3; 5 `is avertical section taken along line 5 5'. of Fig. `3; fand. Fig.;f6 is a plan View of one of the'foundation supports upon which a pipe willlresti-.when .the tank.- is., in its lowest position.

The floating roof tank shownr in ,thetaccornpanying drawings includes.,anoutershell I-I) containinga liquid IIv with laroof I,2,floatingfon-,top of the liquid. The roof I2 floats-becauseiofpan air pontoon I3 of cannular shape forming athe circumference ,of the roof. vThis;pontoonj-;ma,-y..be At the lowest point v,on

the center, there` is 1ocatedasump I4,-,.withfjthe bottom of the sump extending belowztheroof. This sump is to collect lwater thatyfallsontop ofthe roof. Extending from thegsumpltofthe outer shell I0isa drain I 5. ,The shellerid=f6 of the drain is located nearwthe bottom @of `the shell. Thedrainl4 comprises .agpi-peill cornmunicatingly attached xto the'sump I4 'andextending along the bottom; -of the roof vsubstantially parallel thereto. :At the other end of the pipe I'I there is attached a flexible hose laof rubber or the like, and'this'hoseeXtends toithefshell As the roof falls the flexible hose I8 isflaid along the bottom of the tank and forms curves. It is necessaryto support '.theiroof l.so-that the hose will not be kinked. The support lorthe roof includes .three z=verticalfhol1ow pipes j .l 9- 'extending through the roof a substantial.` distance above yand below ,andopennat.bothends These pipes are. spaced around: the acircumferencegofz-a circle whose center is'substantiallyattheecenter of the roof. The verticalnpipes form..;substan vtially an equilateral triangle, and Leach ;1:Iipe;;ls

located near the pontoon 113. '.Each pipeflges hollow and has a threaded upper: end onto which is screwed .a collar 33. There is avertical-fextension pipe 20 held Lwithin'the hollow pipe.'li9 and extending beyondithefendsofpipe I9. .':lThis vertical extension is capable ofbeingfastened to the pipe in ya pluralityy offpositons. 'Asishown the vertical extension20may be fastenedtoizthe pipe I9 by means of holes 2 I` lin theyextensionfarranged for alignment with holes 22 at the top of the collar 33. The extension has two pairs of holes 2 I, while the collar has one pair of holes 22. The holes 2I and 22 may be aligned together and the two pipes fastened together by means o'f a bolt 32 passing through both pairs of holes. At the top of extension 20 there is provided a closure plate 23 and an upstanding ring 24 attached to the closure plate. The ring 24 on each extension may be engaged by hoisting means to lift the roof in constructing or repairing the tank.

The distance from the roof to the tank bottom may be varied by varying the distance from the roof to the bottom ends of vertical extension pipes 20. In constructing the roof this can be done by locating the point of attachment of the hollow pipes I9 to the roof I2 at any desired distance from the bottom of pipes I9. Further variation may be accomplished when the tank is in use by turning threaded collar 33 to extend or retract it. If desired, more than two sets of holes 2| may be provided in the extension pipes 2|).

Each vertical pipe I9 is braced against lateral and longitudinal movement by bracing extending from the bottom portion of the pipe to the bottom surface of the roof. This bracing, as shown, comprises a plurality of circular rods 25 extending from near the bottom of the pipe to the bottom surface of the roof with the bottom ends lying along the circumference of a circle whose center is substantially at the center of the pipe. The bracing may also be plate webs if desired. The rods 25 are welded or otherwise fastened to the pipe and to the roof, and are spaced equally around the circle. The bracing also includes an annular plate 26 substantially concentric with the pipe and attached to the bottomsurface of the roof and to the outer surface of the pipe. Spaced around the annular plate are triangular blocks 2l fastened to the pipe and to the annular plate.

The bottom end of pipe 20 is rounded and is adapted to rest on a platform 28 when the roof is in its lowest position. This platform comprises a circular plate 29 rigidly supported above the bottom surface of the tank on beams 30 arranged at right angles to each other. Between each adjacent pair of beams 30 there are located connecting beams 3| substantially forming an inscribed square within the circle of the circular plate 29. This arrangement of beams serves to hold the plate 29 rigid and to give full support to the pipe 20. The pipe rests either on the center of the circular beam or out toward the edge.

As the pipes 20 and the platforms 28 are equally spaced around the tank the roof I2 will be maintained level at all times. As many pipes and platforms may be used as desired, depending in part upon the size of the tank and the degree of rigidity desired.

The rounded bottom ends of pipes |9 are important features of the invention as they push aside the drain hose I8 when the roof approaches the bottom of the tank and thus prevent crushing` the hose. They are also important as they penetrate any ice formation on the bottom of the tank. When the pipes |9 are resting on the supports and water in the bottom of the tank freezes it is easier for the pipes to tear loose from the ice when the bottom ends are rounded.

The support plates 29 are shown as circular in shape but they may also be square or any other desired shape. They are preferably all arranged essentially on a level with each other so that 4 the roof will rest in horizontal position on the bottom of the tank. Final adjustments may be made to achieve this horizontal position by turning collar 33 to a desired position and by locating the holes 2| Wherever desired. 'Ihe support rods 25 serve not only to brace the hollow pipe I9 and thus extension pipe 20 but also as fenders to keep hose from catching around the bottom ends of the pipes. This fending action' is due to their sloping arrangement.

The roof support shown and described herein is useful on any type of floating roof.

Having described our invention in considerable detail as related to one embodiment of the same, it is our intention that the invention be not limited by any of the details of description unless otherwise specified, but rather be construed broadly within its spirit and scope as set out in the accompanying claims.

l We claim:

1. A roof support for a oating roof tank comprising at least three hollow vertical` pipe-like members extending through the roof a substantial distance above and below the roof and substantially equally spaced about the circumference of acircle whose center is substantially at the center of the roof, each of said pipe-like members being braced against lateral and longitudinal movement by bracing means extending from the bottom portion of the member to the bottom surface of the roof, a collar threaded to the upper portion of each of said members and having an opening therein, an extension extending through said collar and through said mem ber and having a plurality of openings therein spaced longitudinally of the extension, and a pin insertable through the opening in the collar and one of the openings in the extension to secure the extension to the collar, said extension having a bottom end extending below the pipe-like member to support the roof above the bottom of the tank.

2. The roof support of claim 1 in which the bottom end of said extension is rounded and includingr a foundation structure under each extension upon which the bottom end of the extension pipe will rest when the roof is in its lowest Iposition, said foundation structure com'- prising rigid plates supported above the bottom of the tank and substantially parallel thereto.

3. The roof support of claim 1 in which said extension is provided with a fastening ringat its top end to which a hoisting mechanism may be attached.

FRED L. GOLDSBY. FREDERICK D. MOYER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 21,135 Bailey July 4, 1939 1,513,605 Kramer Oct. 28, 1924 1,738,483 Raymond Dec. 3, 1929 1,774,943 Patterson Sept. 2, 1930 1,994,478 Kueifer Mar. 19, 1935 2,089,645 Dickman Aug. 10, 1937 

